Atari ST Gameboy Emulator

Chris Cracknell

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Dec 23, 1998, 3:00:00 AM12/23/98

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I realize that the Atari ST doesn't have the raw power required to emulate
many of the older videogame machines like the Atari 2600, Intellivision,
and Vectrex not to mention actual arcade machines like MAME does on the PC.
And before some of you start flaming me and bringing up all the different
computer emulators there are for the ST note I'm talking about videogame
machines not computers. It's much harder to emulate videogame systems than
it is to emulate a computer. I know that the ST can easily emulate the
6507 (same as a 6502 but without interupt lines) but it takes a very fast
586 to emulate the TIA chip in the old Atari 2600 and the custom chips in
most videogame consoles are equally as difficult to emulate. Not to mention
that a computer emulator doesn't have to run at full speed (unless you're
going to be playing games on it) but a videogame emulator must.

Anyways, a friend of mine was telling me that there is a Gameboy emulator
that will run, fully functional, on a lowly 8Mhz XT! I figure if someone
can get a Gameboy emulator working on that dinosaur then I'd imagine a
monochrome Atari 1040ST should certainly have the power to emulate a
Gameboy. Has anyone ever thought about that? Anybody working on something
like that?

CRACKERS
(Zelda on the ST from hell!!)

--

Collector of Atari 2600 carts - Accordionist - Bira Bira Devotee - Anime fan
* http://www.hwcn.org/~ad329/crab.html | Crackers' Arts Base *
* http://www.angelfire.com/ma/hozervideo/index.html | Hozer Video Games *
Nihongo ga dekimasu - 2600 programmer - Father of 2 great kids - Canadian eh

Byron Followell

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Dec 24, 1998, 3:00:00 AM12/24/98

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On 23 Dec 1998 22:23:25 -0500, ad...@james.hwcn.org (Chris Cracknell)
wrote:

>
>I realize that the Atari ST doesn't have the raw power required to emulate
>many of the older videogame machines like the Atari 2600, Intellivision,
>and Vectrex not to mention actual arcade machines like MAME does on the PC.
>And before some of you start flaming me and bringing up all the different
>computer emulators there are for the ST note I'm talking about videogame
>machines not computers. It's much harder to emulate videogame systems than
>it is to emulate a computer. I know that the ST can easily emulate the
>6507 (same as a 6502 but without interupt lines) but it takes a very fast
>586 to emulate the TIA chip in the old Atari 2600 and the custom chips in
>most videogame consoles are equally as difficult to emulate. Not to mention
>that a computer emulator doesn't have to run at full speed (unless you're
>going to be playing games on it) but a videogame emulator must.
>
>Anyways, a friend of mine was telling me that there is a Gameboy emulator
>that will run, fully functional, on a lowly 8Mhz XT! I figure if someone
>can get a Gameboy emulator working on that dinosaur then I'd imagine a
>monochrome Atari 1040ST should certainly have the power to emulate a
>Gameboy. Has anyone ever thought about that? Anybody working on something
>like that?
>
> CRACKERS
> (Zelda on the ST from hell!!)

First of all, it doesn't take a fast 586 anything to emulate a
2600!! I ran a great emulator at something like 150% normal speed on a
fast 486 and it would've probably ran pretty decent on a fast 386
(well, maybe not).
Second of all, if you don't think the ST could emulate a 2600,
I really don't see how you think it could emulate a Gameboy! Even
though it was only b & w, the Gameboy is a much faster, much more
advanced system than was even dreamed of at the time the 2600 was in
use!
Third of all, I don't know what emulator your friend was
talking about, but, I'm pretty sure he's badly mistaken. I really
don't believe it's possible to emulate a Gameboy at anything
resembling playable speed on anything less than a fast 486.
While, I'm not saying it's not possible, I am saying it's not
very likely. I would like to be proven wrong though :-)

--

Sincerely,
- Byron Followell
foll...@comsource.net
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/heartland/acres/6391/
Reach me by ICQ. My ICQ# is 13014170

George W. Garner

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Dec 24, 1998, 3:00:00 AM12/24/98

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Byron Followell (foll...@comsource.net) wrote:
: Second of all, if you don't think the ST could emulate a 2600,

: I really don't see how you think it could emulate a Gameboy! Even
: though it was only b & w, the Gameboy is a much faster, much more
: advanced system than was even dreamed of at the time the 2600 was in
: use!
: Third of all, I don't know what emulator your friend was
: talking about, but, I'm pretty sure he's badly mistaken. I really
: don't believe it's possible to emulate a Gameboy at anything
: resembling playable speed on anything less than a fast 486.
: While, I'm not saying it's not possible, I am saying it's not
: very likely. I would like to be proven wrong though :-)

Consider yourself proven slightly wrong. The work of the Resevoir Gods
continues to amaze and wow Falcon owners accross the pond all the way
over to the states. They have created GodBoy and GodleNES, Gameboy and
Nintendo emulators for the Falcon. I'm not sure if/how fast they would
runon a standard ST, but most games run okay for GodleNES. And it's not
yet a true emulator from the standpoint that it takes the binaries and
runs with it, rather, they convert games to separate stand-alone programs
(about 15 or so for GodleNES so far). Now, I haven't used Godboy, so I
have no idea how fast it runs on a Falcon let alone if it will run on an
ST. But, what better way to find out than to try.

You can download the games and see more information at
http://rg.atari.org. Their work continues to push the Atari scene
forward, plus they seem like they're having a hell of a lot of fun doing
it :)

Hope that helps,
George

: --

: Sincerely,
: - Byron Followell
: foll...@comsource.net
: Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/heartland/acres/6391/
: Reach me by ICQ. My ICQ# is 13014170

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We all go about longing for love: it is the first need of our natures,
the first prayer of our hearts; but we dare not utter our longing: we are
too shy."
-- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
"I have spent my life in idle longing, without saying a word, in the
presence of whom I loved the most."
-- John Jacques Rousseau (1712-78)
"I can picture every move that a man could make, getting lost in her love
is your first mistake."
-- Gordon Lightfoot, 1974
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Byron Followell

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Dec 24, 1998, 3:00:00 AM12/24/98

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On 24 Dec 1998 18:00:19 GMT, garn...@kutztown.edu (George W. Garner)
wrote:

>
>
> Consider yourself proven slightly wrong. The work of the Resevoir Gods
>continues to amaze and wow Falcon owners accross the pond all the way
>over to the states. They have created GodBoy and GodleNES, Gameboy and
>Nintendo emulators for the Falcon. I'm not sure if/how fast they would
>runon a standard ST, but most games run okay for GodleNES. And it's not
>yet a true emulator from the standpoint that it takes the binaries and
>runs with it, rather, they convert games to separate stand-alone programs
>(about 15 or so for GodleNES so far). Now, I haven't used Godboy, so I
>have no idea how fast it runs on a Falcon let alone if it will run on an
>ST. But, what better way to find out than to try.
>
> You can download the games and see more information at
>http://rg.atari.org. Their work continues to push the Atari scene
>forward, plus they seem like they're having a hell of a lot of fun doing
>it :)
>
> Hope that helps,
> George
>
>

Wow! Glad to hear it. I didn't mean that I didn't think the
Gameboy stuff couldn't be done on an ST or Falcon. What I meant was I
don't think a Gameboy emulator could be done on a lowly XT machine! I
should've been a little more clear. I also think Chris is REALLY
overestimating the capabilities and the complexity of the old 2600!
I'm really glad to hear that people are still doing this sort
of thing on the old Ataris though! I'm busy playing with my new super
system (P2-450, 128Meg Ram, 13 Gig HD, CD-RW, etc., etc.). Sorry to
gloat, but this is my first new computer in about six years and I went
all out. After running on my old 486 for so long, I feel I've earned
it!
As soon as I get my computer room straightened and organized,
I'm going to pull out my old 800XL and 1040ST systems and set them
back up too! Long live Atari!

James F. Haslam

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Dec 24, 1998, 3:00:00 AM12/24/98

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On 24 Dec 1998 16:14:57, Byron Followell wrote:

> Third of all, I don't know what emulator your friend was
>talking about, but, I'm pretty sure he's badly mistaken. I really
>don't believe it's possible to emulate a Gameboy at anything
>resembling playable speed on anything less than a fast 486.
> While, I'm not saying it's not possible, I am saying it's not
>very likely. I would like to be proven wrong though :-)

BOLLOCKS BRYAN.

My standard 16mhz Falcon runs an emulator of a faster system than a
Gameboy - an NES system. Many games run at playable speeds. Also by
the same authors there is an emulator called a Godboy which does the
same trick with Gameboy games.

I don't know what sort of PC my Falcon compares with, but it certainly
isn't the equivalent of a 486.

Admittedly a Falcon is a faster machine than the ST, but I still ran
emulated games on my ST when I had it. Gameboy emulators didn't
abound, except for one that ran Gameboy Tetris very well, even drawing
a picture of a Gameboy on the screen and played the game in the window
as if you had the Gameboy there.

Next time check your facts before insulting these fine machines - AT
LEAST ATARI COMPUTERS DO NOT HAVE THE MILLENIUM BUG.

Cheers!

James